Execution

Timeline

23 May 1701

Captain William Kidd is hanged in London. Afrer the first attempt fails when the rope snaps, Kidd is brought right back to the gallows and the process repeated. After death, the body is slathered in tar, chained up, and suspended over the Thames where it remains for years as an example to others considering a life of piracy.

24 Nov 1740

William Duell, murderer, hanged at Tyburn in London. He is not killed immediately, though this is not noticed by the executioner. Deull later awakes on the dissection table.

Joseph Tussaud returns to London with the well-used blade of the guillotine he purchased from Clement Sanson, the last in a line of Sansons who held the office of Executioner of Paris for over 150 years. The blade is now part of Tussaud's Wax Museum collection.